The Oregon club hockey team opened Pac-8 play at home against Washington State this weekend and punished the Cougars 9-2 Friday and 6-2 Saturday.
The Ducks dominated puck possession and spent most of both games in the offensive zone. They put 51 shots on goal Friday, to the Cougars’ 30, and outshot Washington State again Saturday, 42-24.
“I figured we would have the stronger team,” Oregon coach Scott McCallum said. “But this early in the year, after only a couple practices, you never know.”
While they expected to win, the Ducks weren’t leaving anything to chance against the Cougars.
“We knew they played USC really tough,” sophomore defenseman Jeff Gibb said. “We weren’t going to look past them.”
Washington State racked up penalties in both games, spending 38 total minutes in the box to the Ducks’ 25. McCallum said that most of the Cougar penalties were attempts to slow up Oregon’s faster, more skilled offensive players – a common strategy in past years until the league tightened up the rules on the defense this season in order to free up the offense.
“With the rule changes, they’re really calling all the hooking, slashing and interference penalties this year,” McCallum said.
Oregon was led in scoring by junior forward Eric Steinmann with four goals in Friday’s game and two more on Saturday.
“This year Eric has just stepped it up. He’s started finishing and scoring with the puck,” McCallum said. “He has a good shot and good hockey sense. He sees the ice really well.”
Steinmann is part of the Ducks’ first line of forwards, with junior Brian Carr and senior Mike Hideghety. The line has come together to lead a talented and deep offensive unit, McCallum said.
“That line seems to work well together even with very little practice time,” he said.
Carr assisted on four goals Friday night and finished the weekend with seven points.
“He’s been a goal scorer for us, he’s been able to finish ever since he came,” McCallum said. “He’s been plagued with injuries and illness throughout the last couple seasons, but when he’s been there and been healthy he’s always been someone who can put some points on the board.”
The Ducks have been a successful team under McCallum, winning the Pac-8 championship in 2004-05, the coach’s first year at the helm. Oregon finished as the runner-up last year, losing the championship game to USC in a triple-overtime thriller.
McCallum said Oregon hockey is building momentum by sprucing up its facilities and kicking off the season with the unveiling of its new Web site, www.oregonduckshockey.com. The site was built for the team by the local company Global Design, which handles several corporate Web sites, including the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.
“They’ve just been wonderful working with the Web site and hopefully that pays off,” McCallum said. “People see a professional, respectable, presentable Web site and it will reflect positively on our program. We’re proud of it.”
The team believes that with this momentum and the current talent, the Ducks can go far this season.
“The top of the list, for us, is getting the league championship back from USC,” Gibb said.
Next on the list, he said, is the “I-5 Cup”, a trophy that travels back and forth to the winner of the season series between Oregon and Washington. The Ducks have held the cup for the last four seasons.
This Friday, the Ducks travel to Berkeley, Calif. to take on the California Golden Bears. Last year Oregon trounced Cal 14-1 in the first meeting, then lost 3-2 to the Bears the next day. The Ducks went on to defeat the Bears handily in the Pac-8 semifinal, 10-3, but the lesson that they learned in that second game has stuck with them.
“Nothing comes easy in this league,” Gibb said. “We pretty much proved that win was a fluke when we hammered them in the tournament, but we won’t take anything for granted this year.”
The Ducks next home game is Friday, Oct. 20, against Idaho at the Lane County Ice Arena.